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Part 83
Sitemap --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- More interesting items/ideas for a Bioshock Rapture MMORPG ''' --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- - '''Part 83 --- --- --- --- --- Quantum Particles?? Please. Cats figured out String Theory thousands of years ago. : Ever since all the Pyramids flew into the Sun, the Floaty Particles have been banned by the Interdimensional Safety Authorities. --- --- Dancing Plasmid Bottle Commercial : I could just see a live commercial appearing on TV just like the ones from the late 40s, with the dancing packages of cigarettes done between live drama segments of Playhouse 20000 Leagues. With many small TV channels, production values might not rise as they did when there were only 3 main TV Networks and millions of viewers for the advertisers. --- --- --- BioShock Easter Eggs : * Bet you didn't know that Delta carved his little triangle symbol along the path he took to get Eleanor. * Lutece Twins heads to be found in in Bell Jars in a Rapture research lab somewhere (sub-story : Suchongs Trap). * Once in a while, you see someone that appears to be dressed like Elvis in the distance going around a corner in the New Rapture City Center. * Jack Sparrow is hidden in 4 different spots in the City Hall - can you find them all ? * One 'Need To Know' machine in the New Rapture Museum plays the Blooper Reel from BioShock 1. * The Secret Teleport Plasmid room in BS2 has a Tan Suan Cola machine over in one dark corner. --- --- --- MOMENTOUS Raft of Absurdity - Sci-Fi's dimwitted stepchild... Von Danikenesque Pseudo-Science : * Blame it on the Quantum Whatever... * The Ultimate Crutch (of the bad writer) ... * "American Exceptualism" - except this ain't America, nor Exceptional ... * Einstein said : ' "That Shit be Whacked !!" ' * Did they recycle the Denny's napkins this game was designed on? DO we blame the ketchup stains for losing the better parts of it ? * "No Gods, No Kings, No Half-assed Derivative Rubbish" - Andrew Ryan * Rapture Headline - "Schrodinger Sues !!!" --- --- --- Blame It on the Civil War : ' Sander Cohen's "Plasterpieces" started as covered in sugar and cornflakes, but during the Civil War sugar got hard to get, and 'critic' rats nibbled on his art. His planned ''Shredded Wheat Heptotheon was abandoned, much to his chagrin. --- --- '''New Rapture NEEDS Gold : Not to trade for critical stuff from the Surface (Ryan actually still has some (quite a bit actually) money up there ...) but for new electronics mechanisms and repairs. Particularly for the Bio-Electronics which have quite small components and uses gold conductors (very small gold wires - a very well understood technology, for this still pre-IC technological era) --- --- --- Sealife of Rapture : More Assets to player create - colorful glowey sealife of various kinds (flashing patterns, etc...) Easy Variations can be texture painting on standard organism types (and now with glowy flashing changing light effects - done with multiple textures and tweening). How long have those PC Aquarium programs been available ?? 20 years ? Expand/improve on the static canned (animation) movements you saw in various sea views in the game (jellyfish/sharks/fish/etc). Makes a nice screen saver fro your Smartphone. Behavior scripting, ditto. - A few Fad-ish Tonics had bioluminescent effects for people - interesting glowey flesh effects .. hair ?? Glowey tattoos ? (easy enough to do in a game if you can do normal tattoo accessorizing on the human figures). Temporary effects, as the genetic alteration does over time deteriorate. The usual Player customization feature might offer significantly greater variations than in most MMORPG games. (SO now we need proper character closeups to justify them...) Mirrors will again be sold in Rapture (did you notice that every one in the games had been smashed?) --- --- --- Writer's Faulty Excuses : People in Rapture did X Y Z in the story, but it doesn't matter if its illogical because they were all crazy on ADAM... Except, alot of 'it' (story bits) happened BEFORE ADAM existed, and even afterwards when most people STILL weren't yet significantly effected by ADAM. Rapture as a 'City', a functioning society, had to work by logical rules and behaviors, or Rapture simply wouldn't have continued to exist for 11+ years. Unfortunately, the writers make believe (or just forgot/didn't care?) that those 'rules' didn't exist, or that they wouldn't largely continue to be in effect even after ADAM started to warp that society. --- --- --- Classic Rapture : Now defined as BioShock Rapture before the contamination of the Infinite BS stuff was glombed onto it in that quick-n-dirty before-they-folded-the-company DLC. No Quantum Mechanics/Physics/Multiverse fantasy-type pseudo-science No Tear BS (Where did that "makes you into an interdimensional god" crap come from ??) No Suchong creating the Vita-Chambers/working with 'Tears' etc... No Atlas and thugs in a ludicrous Department store Prison, running free or otherwise. No Booker/Elizabeth/Sally (except as ridicule made in creative player's side productions) No dim magic FreightHooks/PneumoLine and Vacuum-cleaner Skyhook stupidity just to facilitate a recycled feeble game mechanic. No "Ace in the Hole" of Atlas being a severe moron and leaving the WYK control phrase out of his possession. No Fitzroy being revised to 'just misunderstood' instead of a murderous revolutionary. No deluded hype about pathetically and poorly presented "American" Social Ills. --- --- A Gentle Rain : Think what it would be like for Columbia to pass overhead. Flush Toilets had been invented by then and how many of those would there be in a 'City' ??? Imagine the wonder of crap falling from the sky - from 30000 feet it would probably freeze solid. Fink's Industries would be dumping their noisome waste directly over the side... --- --- --- Alternate Timeline (Universe) Stuff (Its ALL Valid?) : Unfortunately for Elizabeth (at the 'Drowning Scene), The "Log Lady" from Twin Peaks arrives (with her dancing midgets) and clobbers her over the head with her log (and the migdets machinegun all the other 'Elizabeths') leaving Booker inspired to take yet another path where he eventually is Grand Master of the Macy's Thankgiving Day Parade (after a lifetime of huge happy world changes). It was Folly for Elizabeth to think that she could really 'fix' anything, particularly by murdering someone (as some kind of all-seeing 'god', isn't she supposed to know that ?? Or was this a case of that she did not actually care and just wanted to "Get Even" with Daddy ??) When 'Infinity' is involved, you DON'T get to Cherrypick which 'timelines' you get to follow. You get all of them or just one - that's if you want to be consistent to the system of logic you have your fiction locked onto. It is actually funny (like a 'sad' clown) that they said 'There are "Constants and Variables"', When the whole essence of Quantum Physics is that EVERYTHING (in that special microcosm of the Quantum Effect) IS variable. It is apparent that "BS" in that game doesn't stand for B'io '''S'hock. From one-end-of-it-to-the-other - from the weird fake absurd Religion to the assertion the game's story has anything remotely to do with American historic social problems or real history, to the awful pseudo-science they couldn't even be consistent with. Worse of all was : While foisting all that '''BS on the Players, their shoot-em-up game degenerated the weapon/Plasmid/opponent game mechanics from the previous game's (and to add further insult, they afflicted Rapture with the same BS in the DLC). --- --- --- Utopia, Itopia, Wealltopia : Since this Infinite BS official descent into Fantasy for 'BioShock 3' (don't go looking for logic/reason/consistancy/explanations), the legion of "strawmen" the writers trotted out are rendered useless thereby. Fantasy makes any attempt at constructively illustrating dysfunctional theoretical societies (primary themes in BS1/BS2) pretty much a "FAIL" - pathetically FAIL-O-RAMA in this case. Hype is Hype, and that game aspect of BioShockian Distopia becomes pointless - even ludicrous. You'd have better luck analyzing 'The Land of Oz' for its Topia-hood than Columbia. --- --- --- Gangs of Rapture : Criminal groups who take advantage of the freedoms in Rapture and operate hidden niches/shadows to avoid adherance to many common laws and societal understandings. These could be dealt with (even as Fontaine eventually was) by mechanisms put in place by Ryan in Rapture (and operation under the Objectivist philosophy). The citizens themselves would form a comitatus to thwart those who impose injury upon others. The viewpoint portrayed in the game were biased to try to make Ryan 'the bad guy', when in reality he would have had the support of the vast majority the people in Rapture, who were threatened by Fontaines exposed criminality or Atlas's murderous disorder. Corruption - those with responsibilities who were bribed/coerced are frequently affiliated with gangs and organized crime. Public disclosure of those corrupting the system leads to subsequent removal of those individuals from their responsibility (and restitution made where possible). There was a reason there were many Newspapers in Rapture - it is part of their job (their importance for their existance within Ryan's society) to bring such criminal things to light, so that the community can act. Young adults/adolescents with contrary behavior are often manipulated/used by others (adults) for their own criminal gain. - There are always malcontents who rebel against the establishment and authority - or just from a mundane life. In Rapture people were given freedom as long as they did not impose on others. -- Protest, but don't block the streets, do stupid things and get yourself killed, but dont endanger others. Such freedom is not an excuse for the lazy to sponge off of those who work. ("Those who dont work, dont eat" - Thessalonians 3:10 AND John Smith at Jamestown Colony during the "Starving Time"). Everything has a cost, and those wanting/demanding something for free. In Rapture, which was founded to be against such parasites behavior, it could get pretty tough for those with parasitic leanings if they got militant and tried to force their way. If someone wants something done, they would have to do it themselves (and/or get likeminded people to assist them). One would hope many with the inclination to be lazy would have been left behind to afflict the Surface World, but it was a broad net that brought many diverse people to Rapture, and many like Sofia Lamb were capable of hiding their true designs and inclinations. Others might change after they arrived, as 1946-1958 was long enough for some citizens to change their old behaviors. Rich people who think themselves above the common social contract - who still employ many of the Surface World's ways, who operate using resources previously gathered before Rapture - after a short run they may find themselves in the same boat as everyone else, if they wasted their money and resources. People from other parts of the World did not neccessarily operate like America's society (and even a subset of Americans would be the same). "Get away with whatever you can get away with" for people who had lived in a society where Corruption was the rule. If they abused others THAT was against the law in Rapture. The gangs would have existed before the Civil War, but were kept under control my the methods mentioned. They could continue to exist after that change, taking advantage of the disorder and eventually surviving because of their ability to form small cooperative groups and be predisposed to methods others might not easily embrace. After Order broke down, such gang/criminal groups might continue to operate, but with Society's rules breaking down, they might find themselves with much more competition from ordinary citizens driven to ruthlessness/strong-measures to survive (gangsters who easily took advantage of Society's protections, while abusing their freedom, would find the 'game' changed). Chaos and Bad Times can be an opportunity for some and the ruin for others. --- --- --- Raptures 5 digit Phone Numbers : Seen on various advertisement Signs. Rather odd emergency numbers seen on Payphones in-game though. Allows 100000 phone locations (so with 20-40K people will be able to work), besides PBX (Private Exchanges) extensions. Nothing says that outlying areas can't have 'area' codes to expand the system. By the time of the MMORPG, the majority of the phone numbers aren't in a working state, though remarkably some of the strangest places can still have working lines. Other places, enterprising people built/maintained their own local systems, some primitive, others more substantial. (Need to see at least one 'tin can on a string' at a Splicer guardpost somewhere...) With Rapture's entrepreneurial spirit there might have been multiple phone companies besides just RT&T, but it may have fallen out that the people setting up in business looked at the small customer base and their requirement to interchange compatibly with every phone user for ordinary phone servivce, and figured out they couldn't make it work businesswise. Specialized phone networks and compatible sub-suppliers and the newer data-comm computer data systems may have been better opportunities. ('The Yellow Pages' might have been called 'Your Rapture Directory') RT&T was associated in many ways with Minervas Den because of the phone system automation employed in Rapture (automatic dialing, minimal operators). Raptures phone system was planned and able to improve on Surface world systems from the start - no need for backward compatibility/older in-place systems). --- --- --- So you Escape from Rapture and Get to the Surface, and Then What?? : "I ESCAPED RAPTURE AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS STUPID T-SHIRT" Lighthouse scene when Jack arrives : People who managed to take the Bathysphere up to the Lighthouse get out and then ??? The nearest land is 300+ miles away. The supply boats don't come any more. The short ranged Bathyspheres only go back and forth between the Lighthouse and the Welcome Center dock. The people who thought to escape are stuck. The Bathyspheres suddenly resubmerge with their door open and anyone not quick enough to get out drowns. Jack, when he arrives, is met inside by pathetic piles of skeletons/bones, some obviously well gnawed. There is evidence of some attempts to light fires and build shelter. Useless luggage is left forlorn and abandoned or as ashes. There are signs of past struggles of new 'escapees' rising to the surface and being seized by the starving people already there. Isn't it a good thing that Ryan locked down that Bathyspheres ? --- --- --- Revived From Death $5 ... : Is it ever explained WHY it costs Booker money when he is 'revived' after being killed ??? The Vita Chambers never charged you (being in Rapture, they probably should have). Is Booker paying Elizabeth, when SHE is always the one finding money and heaving coins at Booker?? Does she really pick Booker's pockets and goes to buy Postcard of Paris ??? Sometimes badly applied game mechanisms impose such stupid things into the game. --- --- --- Columbia Founder's Skyline Armored Train : The Columbia Skyline (in a physically possible universe) is powered by a pair of moving chains within C-shaped rails, and that is what the vehicle locks onto (hooks around the chain) with the train resting on the rails top edge -- supported by whatever holds the rails up (mostly missing in the pictures). The Vehicle is suspended from between the two rails (like the Columbia freight trains). Such a vehicle has only limited uses (as in the real world) - but looks impresssive. Big cannon on the front and turrets, rivetted boiler plate armor (grey iron, mostly bullet-proof), lots of flags/banners (ever see the train in the movie Dr Zhivago...) , made up of several train cars, steam pouring out of a short(armored) stack, firing slits, some kind of distinctive steam whistle (which itself can send the enemy fleeing in terror). Being in a more 3D environment (up in the air) the 'turrets' are there to face all directions (like the B17 bomber with guns out of all sides). The armor is fairly thin (less than 1/2 inch thick steel) probably enough to stop most bullets. The car bodies are pretty small so as to not weigh too rediculously much (1/2 inch steel plate weighs about 20 lb per square foot). The track allegedly supports those 'freight' trains so would have the capacity for some substantial weight. Like Tanks this vehicle is pretty cramped inside to minimize the armored surface area. The Maxim Machine guns existed commonly by 1912 (and actually long before that). Several turrets offer 360 degree firing arcs. The wide gun arcs cover all sides and up and down angles. There are also hand weapon firing slots all round. Firing the 75mm cannon (rapid-fire piston-recoil type) might be interesting when fired as 'broadside' making the whole train swing a bit (even with the rapid fire type dampeners). Getting good firing visibility is always a problem, and having too many viewing slots are a weakness. Some of the crew firing positions probably would not be too comfortable and the noise, when a number of the guns are firing, would probably be deafening. The cars have armored connecting passageways that work on fairly tight curves (not the toylike ones shown in the BS game though). There is a power source to actuate the few hydraulics/pneumatics/electrics and the special terrifying steam whistle. If I was to improve it, I would have a mechanism that would be able to traverse an unmoving Skyline chain (so it couldn't get stuck if the Skyline system shutdown). It probably could use ALOT of covered ventilators (hadnt added them yet). Flagpoles and flags aren't shown. As with most trains, the track is always its chief vulnerability. Armored trains were never horribly effective because the tracks were always vulnurable, and the armor to stop bullets is prohibitive for normal trains ( a steam locomotive is a huge steam bomb just waiting for machine gun bullets to let the pressure off and have it spectacularly explode in a massive flash steam explosion). But in this game the 'Armored Train' ("Freedom Train", Victory Train, Train of State, Founders Express, Mobile Security Platform Mk2, Portable Fortress ...) would be something that looks menacing and not so easy to fight with hand weapons. - The diagram doesn't really show how boxy the thing would be (add rivets all over to give it that old-time/steam-punky era look). The coloring could be just steel/iron grey metal, or it could be painted in red-white-blue, with a few marrings of bullet/burn marks to show its recent use. Painting 'nose art' on it might be a bit much, as would 'kill' talleys. This could be the Deluxe' model. A simpler one would have no turrets, only a couple of machineguns (or none) and lots more firing ports/slots for troops inside. Of course, the opposition would try to quickly melt away from its 'withering fire', but breaking up crowds or handling snipers/holed-up shooters (and generally being menacing) is really what it is intended for. - Just YAHOO "german armored train" images to get ideas of similar existing rail vehicles. Of course the Infinite one wouldn't be quite as fancy or modern looking, but would have that same look to it. The armored Skyline train could be another 'heavy hitter' enemy - An armored train that moves slowly along Columbia's skyways to instill fear in the 'establishments' enemies. It may not have to actually move in the game (actually would look clumsy to animate with those Lionel Toy sharp track curves - icluding those old trailers with a more extensive Skyway system). It could be sitting in the 'inner' areas of the 'Founders' base (or whatever) or could be sitting in one of the stations. Without having to do move animations, it may be easier to develop the Assets to add it to the game initially. The MMORPG (Columbia done RIGHT) would have true vehicle game features, so adapting something like this would be easier than if they tried to add into the original game. Destroying/disabling it to 'get by it' would be the local player scenario (may have to go back someplace else to get something that could 'handle it' (maybe get a freight train and 'Casey Jones' into it.) Or you are pursued through a nice long gauntlet of the city, or you'd be flying along a Skyline and come upon a wall of metal on the 'track' (and have to jump off). Another 'scenario' would be a Vox Populi riot or whatever, and 'The Train' chugs in nearby and disgorges 'Founder' troops (or are they 'police' ), and a major battle erupts that Booker's best strategy is to "get the heck away from there"..... Reason that Vox Populi haven't destroyed every Skyline track in Columbia -- they use the Skyline more frequently than the Founders do to 'get away' from the establishment forces, or to suddenly arrive for their guerilla/terrorist type attacks they make.... And the founders haven't simply shut the system down (except when they have a train to move) because the 'fighting' is only really starting when Booker arrives (or Columbia would already have been thoroughly wrecked before he got there) --- --- --- . . . .